


You Don't Need A Parachute to Skydive

by starshine24mc



Series: Pictures Of Lily [8]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-13
Updated: 2013-10-16
Packaged: 2017-12-20 02:40:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/881986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starshine24mc/pseuds/starshine24mc
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Another 221B for the "Pictures of Lily" collection. What if the trick didn't work?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

John was drinking tea and making a list of weekly chores that included Tesco _(beans)_ , Paul _(that hazelnut thing Sherlock likes)_ and NHNN _(therapy Tuesday and Thursday)_ when Sherlock called his name. John sighed and forced a smile as he limped into the front room.

Sherlock looked to be in the middle of one of his experiments, sitting on the floor in his dressing gown and pajama bottoms holding a piece of paper in one hand and an oversized red crayon in the other. The table was covered in more paper and scattered crayons. John sat down next to him and Sherlock thrust the paper into his hand.

He could see that it was supposed to be two people, but the disjointed stick figures, one clothed almost entirely in swirls of black crayon and the other one a jumper-shaped yellow blur half as tall as the first standing in a puddle of red didn’t spark any immediate recognition until….

Two stick arms were joined by too many stick fingers.

“I’m sorry.” John loathed the way apologies sounded coming out of Sherlock’s mouth all the time now.

“It’s not good, is it?”Tears, real ones, in eyes that had never had a use for them before.

“It’s….amazing…extraordinary…”

John hugged Sherlock and tried again to ignore the way his heart was breaking.


	2. The Law of Octaves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A sequel of sorts to You Don't Need a Parachute to Skydive. Another 221B for the Pictures of Lily series, and likely the second of three.

John found Sherlock asleep on the floor, head resting on the coffee table and one crayon still clutched in his hand.  
  
Before he woke him, John glanced down to see what Sherlock had been working on, and was stunned to see the paper was covered in a pretty good approximation of the Periodic Table. Sure, some of the squares were a little wobbly, and here and there a letter was reversed, but John was delighted to see **Li** and **Be** nestled side by side, and **Rh, Pd** , and **Ag** happily sharing the center squares.  
  
“Shezza,” John gave Sherlock’s shoulder a shake to rouse him, and then helped him to his feet.  
  
Sherlock was still mostly asleep as John guided him into the bedroom, slipped off his dressing gown and pushed him down on the bed, but he rolled over and frowned at John, holding out a hand.  
  
With a smile, John handed Sherlock his Paddington Bear and then pulled the blanket up to his chest, smoothing it over both the man and the toy wedged into the crook of his arm.  
  
John was turning to leave when Sherlock stopped him with a weak tug on the sleeve of his shirt. His eyes were barely open, his smile was soft, and his voice was thick with sleep when he murmured “M’getting **better**.”


	3. Glide Down Over Valhalla

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another 221B for the Pictures of Lily collection, set in the Parachute 'verse.

John woke with a start, almost rolling off of the sofa. Catching himself, he sat up and scrubbed a hand over his face, trying to determine what had ripped him from his sleep. The wondering didn’t take long as he heard a hoarse cry from the bedroom. Without thought he leapt to his feet and ran down the hall, hardly pausing before opening the door to Sherlock’s room and switching on the overhead light.

Sherlock was curled up in a tight shaking ball in the middle of the bed, eyes screwed shut, making a miserable choking, whimpering noise.

John approached the bed warily, still wearing the remnants of the black eye Sherlock had accidentally given him last time John had woken him from a nightmare. But when he sat next to the other man on the bed and whispered his name, Sherlock threw himself into John’s arms with such force that they nearly both toppled off the bed. He wrapped his arms around John’s waist and tried to burrow his head into John’s chest. 

John cupped the back of his head, fingers lightly dancing over short cropped hair and scar tissue.

“Scary dream?” he asked softly. He felt Sherlock nod and then he looked up at him with wet frightened eyes.

“Falling’s not like flying,” Sherlock told him emphatically. “Falling’s **bad**.”


	4. Reprieve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR: J.D. Rush  
> FANDOM: BBC Sherlock  
> PAIRING: John and Sherlock, friendship  
> RATING: G  
> WARNING: Mild angst  
> SUMMARY: He has good days and bad days. A 221B story inspired by Goddess Michele’s Parachute verse, which proposes the idea that "The Fall" had some very dire consequences.  
> DISCLAIMER: These battered and abused characters belong to BBC1, Lords Moffat and Gatiss, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  
> AUTHOR‘S NOTE: Angst isn’t really my forte, but Goddess Michele has graciously allowed me to mess around in her extremely angst-ridden sandbox for this one. Hope I do her series proud.  
> DEDICATION: To Goddess, of course. And to my dear friend, Ann. I wanted to write a story for your birthday, sweetie--guess I missed that boat, huh?

He has good days and bad days. Of course he does. Doesn‘t everyone?  
  
The bad days are filled with frustration and anger, thrown mugs and temper tantrums, depression and remorse. He knows he did something wrong, something he thought was good but ultimately wasn‘t. He doesn’t remember what he did or why it didn’t work. He only knows everything is different now and it’s his fault and no one can fix it.   
  
Bad days, John watches him sadly, cleans up the broken crockery, and makes him waffles for dinner because they’re his favourite. And while he loves waffles, he wishes John didn’t have to make them so often.  
  
Today, however, is a good day. He helps John with breakfast which makes John smile.   
  
He likes to make John smile.   
  
His visit to the speech therapist goes well and John is proud of his progress.   
  
He likes to make John proud.  
  
Over dinner, they talk, practicing the skills he is slowly relearning and he says something to make John laugh.  
  
He likes to make John laugh.  
  
A good day indeed.  
  
That night, for a treat, they curl up on the sofa with his favourite book. Gentle fingers brush tenderly through his hair as John starts reading the familiar tale.  
  
“Do the voices, John,” he commands, snuggling closer. “You do the best **Bilbo**.”


End file.
